8x15" and 10x15" wheels for this car ???

Steve -

I always thought the 8” wheels on the back of the car (from the direction rear view) looked a little ’skinny’, but LeMans850 has gotten some tires, and wheel spacers that greatly improve the look…

I’m sure LM850 will be along soon with some pictures!

(Just looking at your picture, it looks like the back wheels are set in an inch or two too far…)

Chuck

@stevebuchanan posted:

I have been thinking about putting wider 15" wheels on my 74 Euro Pantera.  It currently has stock 7" and 8" rims.  10x15" campy wheels are in short supply and expensive.  Tires can also be expensive, perhaps $2500 for four Pirelli P7's.  I am okay with $5k or so for the 10" campy wheels since it is a one time purchase.  But $2500 every five years or so for tires bothers me.  It looks like Cooper has an inexpensive alternative that might fit.

In any case, here is the car.  The rear wheels look skinny to me.  What are your thoughts?

Hey Steve

I had BFGs on my Car for many years. 8" wheels on the back with 305x50x15. Not sure BFG makes that size any longer, I've seen 295x50x15 on 8s. Getting decent 15' tires is like pulling teeth these days! That's why I changed to 17s and 18s! Good Luck

15" tires are plentiful, people just don't seem to like the price! Pirelli even make the 285/50 VR 15 again, ideal for the 10" wheels.

I have Pirelli P7 285x50x15 on the OEM 8'' wheels and since installing 1'' wheel spacers I find the wheels "fill" the fenders much better.

Steve - if it were me, I would buy a set of Roin 8 and 10" wheels and go for the new Pirelli's.  Lucas tire in Long Beach has them.  Keep the 7's and 8's for the history of the car and a purist if you ever sell it.  You only live once!  

For decades I ran four 8" wheels with 225-50x 15s in front and 275-55x 15" in back, even autocrossing on this combo. The 295s were too wide for proper sidewall support. The 10" were optional for the Euro-only GT-3 street-racer with 285-50x 15" (widest street tire available at the time). Then Gary Hall found out about the 10" wheels and imported about 100 sets which sold well.

I believe Dallara originally designed the Pantera front end for 8" Campys, because the 7" Campys have a poor scrub radius that totally disappears with the 8" wheels. Dallara simply would not have designed such a mismatch on purpose so it likely was a Ford/DeTomaso economic choice to use cheaper 7" at all.

BR Goodrich  T/A's. 225 60 15 front 275 60 15 on the rear. Original rims 7" and 8". The car looks best with 15. inch wheels and  taller profil tires.  Cars of this period had thin bodys and the Pantera is actually quite small. Big wheels put the car out of proportion and make it look like a toy . But, many like this, I do not. By the way, I found that T/A radials are smaller in diameter than the catalog dimensions. At least when I was buying for my car in 60 series profil. 1 inch smaller diameter than advertised dimension.

not always will fit the 225/60-15 on the front.

Simon

yes mine rubs on the inside wheel well on one side, otherwise OK. so far

@Dan A. posted:

yes mine rubs on the inside wheel well on one side, otherwise OK. so far

Which side? If its the passenger (right side) it may be the splash shield for the wiper motor. I remade mine to be smaller.

Most of the time it rubs into the front wheel well , front lower section.

sometimes left, sometimes right from the car.

When you are repaint the car you can modifie this easy.

When you use 10"in the front (GT5/GT5-S) there is a big dent into the wiperengine cover for protect from rubbing.

I now use BFG 245-50 x 15 Euro T/A's in front and yes- some hammer work inside the wheel wells was needed for full lock turns and my extra caster setting. Caster moves the wheels & tires back toward the body. The cowl drain pipe on the left was pounded oval in one area, and a trimmed windshield wiper shield on the right. If you use too small front tires relative to big rears, that only makes the Pantera's natural understeer worse. Wife Judy didn't like the GT-5 fenders (or the '70s Corvettes) with their 10" wide fronts - she called them "lumpy cars". So I was stuck with the narrow body outline.

also there is difference in mesurements between different tyre brands.

When I recently purchased #3619 (L), it came with 10" & 8" Campys.  The rear Euro BFG 305's needed replacing.  Like others, I found the selection limited.  I went with a set of Nitto 325 50/15 Drag Radials on the rear.  The sidewall of these is less than desirable but they are "V" rated.  For the fronts, I went with Kumho Ectsa 225 50/15 that are only "H" rated. 

@panterapatt posted:

Steve - if it were me, I would buy a set of Roin 8 and 10" wheels and go for the new Pirelli's.  Lucas tire in Long Beach has them.  Keep the 7's and 8's for the history of the car and a purist if you ever sell it.  You only live once!  

hmm, $8026 for this stuff.  I might look at taking the low road with1" (or 1.25) spacers, bigger BFG tires, and improved wheel paint.

Here are the shopping carts from Mr. Fiat and Lucas Tires.

Subtotal $5,850.00 USD

Cart Totals

Go direct to Roin, Mr Fiat prices are inflated and they only drop ship them anyway, plus the US$ to € FX rate is favorable currently.

Sorry, but BFG tires should only be installed on trucks, I'd say the Cooper is a better option, but both are only 'S' speed rated for the Sunday drivers.....

Unless you go near or over 110 mph all the time, s rating is fine. I don’t so TA’s are fine for me. I also drive during the week.

This car was recently on bring a trailer and had the Pirelli’s on stock rims.  It fits the car well and looks nice but the car needs to be lowered a little.  I didn’t have any digital pictures of my car when I had the P7 285’s on 8” rims on it.  I purchased a set of 10’s  about a year or two later and switched the tires over.  You don’t have to do it all at once.

We put BFG 215-60-15s and 275-60-15s on 7s & 8s for Daves 7125.

Well proportioned, no interferences.

If you do choose spacers, 1.25" will allow you to use the stock wheel studs and places the outside of an 8" rim at just about the same as a Campy 10" wheel would.